List of MasterChef Junior Episodes

This is a list of MasterChef Junior episodes. The show airs on Fox and premiered on September 27, 2013.

Series overview

Season Episodes Originally aired Nielsen ratings
First aired Last aired Rank Viewers
(millions)
1 7 September 27, 2013 November 8, 2013 N/A N/A
2 7 November 4, 2014 December 16, 2014 TBA N/A
3 8 January 6, 2015 February 24, 2015 TBA N/A
4 12 November 6, 2015 January 29, 2016 TBA N/A

Episodes

Season 1

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series
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Title Original air date U.S. viewers
(millions)
11"Top 16 Compete"September 27, 2013 (2013-09-27)4.29[1]
After a nationwide search for the best junior home chefs in the country, twenty-four are invited to the MasterChef kitchen to compete for a spot in the top twelve. The children are split up into three groups of eight. The first group is assigned to create a restaurant quality seafood dish of their choosing. The dishes consist of Sofia with her Chilean sea bass, Roen with his seared ahi tuna and sushi, Mina with her coconut-crusted shrimp, Daniel with his octopus salad, Justin with his fried red snapper, Jack with his seared crab cakes, Franco with his seared scallops and fried rice, and Molly with her fried cod fish tacos. Out of these eight, Sofia, Roen, Jack, and Molly advance into the top twelve. The second group is assigned to create a stunning plate of fresh pasta. The dishes consist of Dara with her herb and cheese spaetzle, Tommy with his pumpkin ravioli, Sage with her vegetarian lasagna, Jewels with her gnocchi, Troy with his sea scallop fettuccine, Sara with her meatballs and fettuccine, Gavin with his beef pecorino tortellini, and Noah with his Chicken Milanesa and fettuccine pasta. Out of these eight, Dara, Tommy, Jewels, Troy, and Gavin advance to the next round. The final group has to create an amazing dessert. The dishes consist of Alexander with his pistachio macaroons, Sarah with her chocolate molten lava cake, Lishai with her mini apple pie, Ethan with his dark chocolate truffles, Hana with her scone shortcakes, Amanda with her salted caramel brownie, Kaylen with her mint lime cupcakes, and Nathan with his meringue roulade. Out of these eight, Alexander, Sarah, and Kaylen finish up the top 12 lineup. So overall, Alexander, Dara, Gavin, Jack, Jewels, Kaylen, Molly, Roen, Sarah, Sofia, Tommy, and Troy advance to the next round, while Amanda, Daniel, Ethan, Franco, Hana, Justin, Lishai, Mina, Nathan, Noah, Sage, and Sara are sent home on the first day.
22"Top 12 Compete"October 4, 2013 (2013-10-04)3.95[2]

  • Mystery Box Challenge:

Before the series' first mystery box challenge, Gordon announced that the winner will receive $100,000, which excites all the young home cooks. The mystery box for this episode contains filet mignon, tiger shrimp, puff pastry, mixed berries, soy sauce, onion, garlic, butter potatoes, mushrooms, peppers, cherry tomatoes, ginger, greens and blue cheese. Also in the mystery box is a tablet, where the contestants can use it to Skype anybody they want to get ideas for their dish. The top three for the mystery box are Alexander's pan-seared filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes, butter glazed carrots and a spicy mixed berry puree over a fresh green salad; Jack's Surf and Turf (pan-seared filet mignon and sauteed shrimp) with potato puff, glazed carrots and a mushroom cream sauce; and Troy's filet mignon with root vegetable hash, a poached egg, and a demi-glace soy sauce. In the end, Jack's dish is deemed the best and he receives the win in the first mystery box of the series.

  • Elimination Challenge:

For winning the mystery box, Jack gains immunity from the Elimination Challenge as his first advantage. The theme of the Elimination Challenge is the judges' childhood favorite meals. For his second advantage, Jack is given the opportunity to choose what the rest of the contestants would have to cook. His choices are Joe's chicken wings, Graham's hamburger and Gordon's fish sticks. Jack ultimately chooses the burger. The eleven competing contestants are given an hour to create a restaurant quality burger. The three best meals of the Elimination Test are Alexander's beef sliders on mini brioche buns with pepper jack cheese, a lemon arugula salad, caramelized mushrooms, crispy mini onion rings, and a black garlic aioli served with fried kale chips (despite Joe fearing he's overthinking the dish), Gavin's Italian pork sausage burger topped with grilled onions, sliced tomatoes, and arugula served with a cucumber tomato salad topped with aged balsamic vinegar and burrata cheese, and Kaylen's "All around the world" beef and pork burger topped with bacon, Parmesan cheese and served with onion rings. Despite the patty being slightly overcooked and cabbage being put on the burger instead of lettuce like she hoped to do so, Sarah also pleased the judges with her All-American burger with grilled pineapple, bacon, cabbage and baked beans, and is safe from elimination as well. The bottom three meals are Jewels' lamb burger topped with caramelized onions, arugula, avocado, and tomato with a little bit of Tzatziki (which is said to be a move that Jewel's "shot herself in the foot by doing that lamb [burger]" by Graham), Molly's Korean barbecue burger topped with kimchi, fried onions and togarachi served with fries and some cole slaw (which is said to be way overcooked, with off-balance seasoning, and kimchi that didn't work, as she also appeared to have given up for most of the cooking period following Gordon's concerns at her station), and Tommy's breakfast burger made with a pork sausage and turkey patty, topped with American cheese, bacon, and a fried egg served with sweet potato tots (which is said to be dry, bland, with poorly thought out processed cheese inside the patty, alongside an overwhelming cheese flavor obliterating everything else; especially the fried egg, which is lost). In the end, the judges send Jewels to safety, leading to the tearful elimination of Molly and Tommy.

33"Top 10 Compete"October 11, 2013 (2013-10-11)3.92[3]

  • Individual Challenge:

The top 3 from the previous elimination challenge, Alexander, Gavin and Kaylen, are each given a quart of heavy cream and told to whip it to stiff peaks. Whoever had the thickest cream - measured by holding the bowl upside-down over one of the judges' heads - would get an advantage for the next team challenge. While the contestants were whipping, the other 7 contestants were all screaming, though Dara was startled by the 'different style of Sarah' that came out, as Sarah was screaming at the top of her lungs. When the challenge is over, Alexander goes first, holding his bowl over Graham's head, and not one drop falls on the judge. Gavin is next. While his cream doesn't have stiff peaks, it's still thicker and more whipped than plain cream, though it's not thick enough to prevent a large portion from falling on Joe's head, sending everybody (particularly Jewels) into a laughing fit. Kaylen is last to take her turn, and her cream is even thinner than Gavin's, resulting in it completely drenching Gordon, making everybody laugh even harder than before, while Gordon, for the first time in this series, swears aloud, making everyone go into hysterics (particularly Dara). Alexander is thus judged the winner - after which he dumps the contents of his bowl over Graham's head anyway, and everyone ends up throwing cream at Graham, making everyone go into hyper-hysterics.

  • Team Challenge:

As the winner of the last challenge, Alexander has the task of dividing the top 10 into 5 groups of 2; he thus selects Troy to join him, pairs Gavin with Sofia, Jack with Kaylen, Roen with Jewel and Dara (who he considers his biggest competitor) with Sarah (the youngest). The task for this challenge is to recreate Gordon Ramsay's signature dish, Beef Wellington, topped with demi-glace and served with sides of mashed potatoes and broccolini. They are given filet mignon, crepes, puff pastry, prosciutto, dijon mustard, mushroom duxelle, broccolini, thyme, potatoes, butter, salt and pepper to make the dish and have 65 minutes to complete it. Ultimately, Dara and Sarah, whose execution of the dish is deemed absolutely flawless, are narrowly judged to have the best meal by Mr. Ramsay. Closely following are Alexander and Troy, whose meal is only prevented from being perfect by the fact that they waited too long to coat their filet in mustard. Alexander had pointed out that was supposed to be done immediately after the filet was seared, but Troy wouldn't listen to him. Gavin and Sofia's meal, while criticized for having an overly thick layer of pastry on the wellington, is also felt to be very good overall. The weakest 2 meals are those of Jack and Kaylen, along with Jewels and Roen. Jack and Kaylen's wellington suffered from soggy pastry, overcooked filet as a result of using insufficient mushroom duxelles, and mushy broccolini; while Jewels and Roen's wellington is severely over-seasoned with salt and has too much pastry. After deeming the other 3 teams safe, the judges ultimately decide that Jewels and Roen had the weaker of the 2 meals, resulting in their teary-eyed elimination.

44"Top 8 Compete"October 18, 2013 (2013-10-18)3.96[4]

  • Mystery Box Challenge:

The mystery box consists of "foods kids hate:" liver, kidneys, snails, brussel sprouts, sardines, artichoke, blue cheese, olives, dates and fennel. Dara's attempt to make a blue cheese soufflé goes badly wrong from using too much batter in her ramekin, leaving her as the only member of the top eight to not present a meal, though the judges still commend her ambition. The top three for the mystery box are Troy's snail chowder with herb oil and baked eggplant peels, Alexander's sticky toffee pudding with candied fennel, a chantilly cream and a fig-lemon puree, and Sarah's deep-fried sardines with a cabbage, brussel sprout and fennel salad. In the end, Sarah wins the challenge.

  • Elimination Challenge:

After winning the mystery box, Sarah gains immunity from the Elimination Challenge as her first advantage. The theme of the Elimination Challenge is desserts. Sarah is able to choose what the rest of the contestants would have to cook. Her choices are Joe's cupcakes, Graham's 3-layer cake and Gordon's fruit tarts. Sarah chooses Graham's layer cake, with hopes of eliminating Alexander and Troy. The rest of the competing contestants are given 1 1/2 hours to create a three-layer cake. Most of them had never prepared one before and face a series of problems. Alexander mistakes his flour for confectioners' sugar and has to start over, and Sofia cries when her batter refuses to work. Gordon comes over to Sofia and gets her back on her feet, but both she and Alexander have fallen behind. The 2 best cakes of the Elimination Test are Dara's chocolate cake with spice cayenne pepper ganache, and Gavin's chocoholic delight (three layers of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting). Jack's vanilla raspberry cake with meringue buttercream frosting, while not up to the standards of the top 2, also gets positive feedback and saves him from elimination. The 4 worst cakes are Troy's lemon cake with cream cheese frosting and candied lemon slices, Alexander's lemon cake filled with lemon curd, topped with meringue frosting and garnished with blueberry and raspberry puree, Kaylen's vanilla cake with a mixed berry buttercream and Sofia's chocolate cake with a strawberry and raspberry buttercream and topped with fresh raspberries. Unfortunately, Sarah's plan to eliminate Troy and Alexander backfired, as Troy's cake did just enough to keep him in the competition, while Alexander survives mostly by virtue of his past performances (despite the judges calling his cake a "disaster"), leading to the tearful elimination of Kaylen and Sofia.

55"Top 6 Compete"October 25, 2013 (2013-10-25)3.87[5]

  • Team Challenge:

The Top 6 contestants travel to Drago Centro in Los Angeles. Joe announces they'd be competing in the restaurant takeover challenge, which scares some of the kids. Because Dara and Gavin had the best cakes last episode, they're named team captains. Dara chooses Alexander and Jack for her red team while Gavin chooses Troy and Sarah for his blue team. The teams have to prepare 2 appetizers and entrees from the menu: A Burrata Salad and Seared Albacore Tuna for appetizers, along with Short Rib Ravioli and Pan Seared Branzino for entrées. The teams have an hour of prep and 75 minutes of lunch service. Promptly after prep time begins, Troy takes command of the blue team, but Gordon tells him to calm down and allow team captain Gavin to take control. The red team, however, shares responsibilities and decides democratically who'd do what. Troy and Sarah have a hard time getting along. Once prep time is over, Ramsay, who's the expediter, begins calling out orders and service officially starts. The blue team falls behind because they're struggling to work together, and even have to redo a dish because Troy had sliced the tuna too thin. On the red team, Dara and Alexander begin arguing, but Jack and Gordon bring them back together. The guests enjoy their appetizers and give good reviews, with no clue that the chefs are children. The teams now have to prepare a dish for Chef Ian of the restaurant. While the blue team continue to have conflicts, the red team gets it together. Chef Ian tests the teams' appetizers. The blue team's Burrata Salad looks and tastes better and for the tuna, both teams get good reviews. The teams now prepare their entrees for fifty customers and Chef Ian. Gavin of the blue team tries to ease the tension between Troy and Sarah. However, the red team gets it together and works in unison. The customers give mixed reviews. The teams prepares Chef Ian's meals. The blue team finally works together, but on the contrary, the red team struggles to get the order done. The red team's ravioli looks and tastes better while the blue team's ravioli is lacking sauce. The red team's Branzino looks better, but the blue team's Branzino tastes better. The guests fill out their comment cards, and the young cooks come out of the kitchen to greet the guests, who are blown away by the fact that children ages 9 to 13 cooked their food. The cooks travel back to the MasterChef kitchen to find which team won the challenge. Back in the kitchen, the judges declare the Red team the winner, sending Dara, Alexander and Jack to the semifinals. The Blue team is up for elimination; however, only one will be safe. In the end, the judges save Troy, while Gavin and a teary-eyed Sarah are sent home, much to the red team's dismay. Before they left, Gordon asked them about who they think will win. Sarah thought Troy would win, despite him giving her a hard time at the restaurant, and Gavin said Jack will win.

66"Top 4 Compete"November 1, 2013 (2013-11-01)4.01[6]

  • Individual Challenge:

All 4 remaining contestants are asked to make a perfect soft-cooked egg but thrown a curveball by being refused any sort of timer and forced to go completely on gut instinct to determine when their egg is ready. When the eggs are presented, Alexander and Jack's eggs are completely hard-cooked, and while Dara's yellow is somewhat softer, it's still mostly solid. Troy's egg is about halfway between being soft and hard-cooked, resulting in him being named the winner for delivering the closest to what the judges had asked for.

  • Elimination Challenge:

As the winner of the individual challenge, Troy's advantage is to assign himself and the other 3 cooks one of 4 cuts of chicken. He chooses thigh for himself, gives Alexander the liver (considered the hardest cut), Dara the wings and Jack the breast. During the cooking phase, Dara is composed and confident throughout, Jack keeps going back and forth to the pantry to get ingredients he forgot, Troy ignores Joe's advice to cook 2 thighs as a backup plan, while Alexander is extremely nervous about his cut, as he knew nothing about cooking liver. Troy is first-up to be judged, and serves up a pan-fried thigh with romesco sauce and a spaghetti, squash and zucchini salad. Unfortunately, Troy had confused the cooking times of chicken breasts and thighs, and when Gordon cuts it open, the interior of the thigh is completely raw, leaving the judges unable to taste it. They nonetheless compliment him on his presentation and the taste of the side items, but it's of little consolation to Troy, who leaves the judges in tears knowing he's highly likely not going to make it to the finale due to this mistake. Dara serves soy-ginger wings with pickled cucumbers, radishes and carrots, which gets unanimous praise from the judges, and in particular is complimented on its presentation (Joe calls it a restaurant 'signature' dish). Alexander creates a pate of his liver and serves it atop a garlic crostini topped with bacon, served with reduced cherry marmalade and a balsamic glaze, which gets huge praise from the judges for turning what's by far the hardest of the 4 cuts into a rustic, restaurant-quality meal that causes Ramsay to joke that, if Alexander was 5 years older, then he'd hire him on the spot. Finally, Jack serves a goat cheese, sun-dried tomato and chopped olive stuffed chicken breast roulade wrapped in prosciutto served with asparagus and roasted potatoes; the judges all love the meal and are astonished that Jack, the youngest remaining competitor, had served up the most complex dish of the night and executed it so well. With Troy's elimination largely a foregone conclusion, the judges are left to choose between Alexander, Dara and Jack. Alexander is named the first finalist for having the best overall meal in this challenge, leaving Dara and Jack. Ultimately, the judges make Dara the other finalist for her presentation skills and being the only contestant in the top 4 not to finish in the bottom 3 or 4 of a challenge, leading to the elimination of a teary-eyed Jack and Troy.

77"Season Finale"November 8, 2013 (2013-11-08)4.14[7]

  • Season Finale: In attendance for the finale are the families of Alexander and Dara, all the other contestants from this season and MasterChef season 4 winner Luca. The 2 finalists each have an hour-and-a-half in which to make a 3-course meal, and are allowed to cook anything they want. During the cooking phase, Dara forgets several ingredients (having to borrow them from Alexander), becomes overwhelmed and dehydrated about an hour in, forcing the challenge to be paused so she can recover. Despite this, and Alexander having to rush to get everything ready in time, both finalists are able to finish successfully.
  • Appetizer: Dara serves an Ahi tuna duo (poke and seared), while Alexander serves basil lemon shrimp with heirloom tomato crostini. While the judges enjoy both meals, they agree without hesitation that Dara's is the better of the 2, and both more ambitious and generally better-executed, while Alexander's is a bit simplistic.
  • Entree: Dara's dish is fried spot prawns with scallop-shrimp wontons and Thai coconut curry sauce, and Alexander's is a pan-seared veal chop with potato gnocchi and butter sauce. Overall, the judges all like Dara's meal but note it was slightly let down by the prawns being overcooked. Alexander is nervous, knowing that if his meal doesn't get a good review, Dara would win irrespective of how the dessert course went; fortunately, the judges all give him huge praise for perfectly nailing the gnocchi and temperature on the veal, and largely agree that Alexander had won this course.
  • Dessert: Both finalists serve up unorthodox desserts; Dara's is poached pears in lemon ginger miso sauce, while Alexander's is a deconstructed cannoli Napoleon. Gordon is initially unsure about the choice of miso broth in Dara's dessert, but the judges all enjoy it. Alexander is commended on the ambition shown in his dessert, and the judges feel he'd largely been able to follow through with it in the execution, though they feel the marscapone is a bit too sweet and off-balance.
  • Judges' Deliberations: The judges feel this is a close call, and in a first for the Fox incarnation of MasterChef, it's strongly implied that the winner was decided on via a split-decision instead of a unanimous vote. Ultimately, while Gordon backs Dara as the winner for the greater overall coherency of her meals (and also having been a consistently excellent performer in every challenge), Graham and Joe feel Alexander deserves the win for his greater ambition and technical ability, and serving an entree Joe describes as "the best meal we've ever tasted on MasterChef."
  • Winner Revealed: Alexander is announced as the first MasterChef Junior winner, taking home the trophy and the $100,000 prize, making Dara the first runner-up.

Season 2

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Title Original air date U.S. viewers
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81"Top 16 Compete"November 4, 2014 (2014-11-04)5.09[8]

  • Mystery Box Challenge:

The season starts off with the judges welcoming season one winner Alexander back and having him meet the new contestants. Alexander shows the new kids 13 dishes he made from the mystery box ingredients, because he won the show when he was 13. The kids were given one hour to make a restaurant quality dish. In the end, the top three dishes were Natalie's, Mitchell's and Oona's, but in the end, Natalie's was declared the best because Gordon Ramsay said her dish would be served exactly the same in his restaurant.

  • Elimination Challenge:

As her reward, Natalie was given immunity from the Elimination Challenge and had to pick what the other kids will be cooking in the elimination challenge from three different types of birds: chicken, duck or turkey. She chose chicken and the other kids had to make an elevated chicken dish. The best dishes created was Oona with her chicken liver paté crostini, Samuel with his five-spice chicken wings and Sean with his chicken wings with yuzu salad. Eight-year-old Abby also impressed the judges with her Mexican fried chicken, with Joe saying that "[she] might be the youngest here, Abby, but [she] got big, big potential". Unfortunately, some children didn't meet the mark. The bottom four dishes were Nasir with his lemon chicken drumette served with potatoes and sugar snap peas, Berry with her Moroccan chicken with couscous and fava bean salad, Isabella with her chicken parmesan and Coco with her chicken milanese, wilted greens and fingerling potatoes. Nasir overcooked his chicken, and his dish was overspiced, with Gordon saying that there were raw herbs in the dish. Berry was chastised for her decision to boil the chicken, as her chicken was rendered dry. Isabella didn't even cook her chicken fully and Coco's chicken was unevenly cooked to the point where one half of her chicken was moist and juicy while the other half was flaking apart. In the end, all four were sent home.

92"Top 12 Compete"November 11, 2014 (2014-11-11)4.89[9]

  • Individual Challenge:

With the best three dishes in the previous elimination challenge, Oona, Sean and Samuel are given premade pancake batter and are told to make as many pancakes as they could in six minutes. The person who made the most pancakes would get a huge advantage in the next challenge, as well as saving their respective judge (Oona was given Gordon, Sean was given Joe and Samuel was given Graham) from being drenched in a huge jar of syrup. Oona and Samuel came across challenges, with Oona breaking her pancakes (she called herself more of an "eggs benedict gal") and later dropping some and Samuel burning his. In the end, Samuel and Sean had a similarly large stack of pancakes, while Oona had a stack which made even herself realize, "I'm screwed". As expected, Sean, with no evident challenge throughout the six minutes, won the challenge with nineteen pancakes (much to Samuel's fury, who got sixteen pancakes), as opposed to Oona's eight. Of course, that didn't stop Sean from pouring his syrup on Joe anyway, sending the kids into peals of laughter.

  • Elimination Challenge:

As his advantage, Sean was immune from the following elimination challenge, and in front of the children was shown three types of cream pie - a fruit pie, a citrus pie and a chocolate pie. Realizing the problems contestants would face from balancing tartness and sweetness, Sean picked the citrus pie, much to Natalie's dismay. Before the sixty minutes began, Sean was given another advantage: the ability to pull out a contestant from facing immunity in the challenge. Sean picked Mitchell, saying that he knew that he was good at making cream pie anyway. During the challenge, all contestants came across challenges, especially Levi and Natalie, the former who couldn't get his tartness right in his curd and the latter who picked grapefruit in place of orange in her intent to make an orange cream pie. In the end, Levi bounced back and created a key lime pie (which had the right amount of acidity, much to Graham's pleasure) that, along with Adaiah's southern style blood orange lemon pie with raspberries, became one of the two best pies of the night. Logan, Oona and Abby also had impressive pies, despite the former one's concerns that the crust was ugly (he defended himself saying "it's the taste that matters", making Joe question if his parents were in politics, which his dad was) and the lattermost putting jelly beans in her pie much to Logan's confusion (though her filling and crust were spot on, causing Gordon to question her age). Oona's blood orange pie with passionfruit whipped cream impressed Gordon so much that he asked where the idea came from, which she said "from my brain". However, there were some junior cooks who made blood pies which didn't impress as much. Samuel's pie was overspiced with nutmeg and rosewater, which covered the grapefruit in the pie, despite his confidence (Mitchell also commented that the pistachio on top of the pie "looked like baby barf", though the judges didn't note that). Jessica, despite her cockiness and the fact that she had baked a citrus pie that won a Texas state fair, had an uneven crust, insufficient whip and a few too many pecans in her citrus Texas pecan pie. Natalie still had raw dough in her crust, Sam had his crust wrong (though Joe said that "everything else was spot on") and Josh also undercooked his crust, though not as badly as Natalie did. The aforementioned became the bottom four of the night. Sam was saved by his perfect balance between curd and cream and Josh did just enough to save himself from elimination, so Jessica and Natalie, despite the latter being a frontrunner, were sent home.

103"Top 10 Compete"November 18, 2014 (2014-11-18)4.27[10]
114"Top 8 Compete"November 25, 2014 (2014-11-25)4.06[11]
In The Beginning of The Episode They Have Some Challenge To Fry Some Eggs After That The Top 10 Contestants are To Do Their Signature Dish Abby ans Samel had the best dishes while Onna, Sean, Josh and Levi were at the bottom, But In the end, Josh And Levi Are Eliminated.
125"Top 6 Compete"December 2, 2014 (2014-12-02)4.82[12]

  • Team Challenge:

They were divided into two teams – led by the winners of last week’s challenge, Samuel and Abby. Then they were whisked off to Malibu to meet their new restaurant challenge. The Pop – Up Restaurant was located outdoors and the Chefs Gordon, Graham and Joe gave cooking demonstrations of the required menu preparation. The menu consisted of two appetizers: Tempura Zucchini Blossoms with Goat Cheese and Spot Prawn Ceviche and two entrees: Loup De Mer with Fennel Trio and Filet Mignon with Fries and Spring Mushrooms. Forty culinary experts were invited to sample the menu. They were clearly stressed over the task placed before them and, surprisingly, things started to fall apart over on the Blue Team composed of Oona, Sean and Samuel. On the Red Team, Graham gagged on Logan’s dish – it was too salty. Logan knew he had to perfect the seasoning or else he was doomed for elimination. On the Blue Team, Oona was struggling with the Blossoms. When it came time to serve the guests, the Blue Team lagged behind and Team Leader Samuel was frustrated. The Red Team, on the other hand, were booting along. The Blue Team ended up with a flawless finish with their outstanding entrée dishes. They were clearly basking in the glory while the Red Team struggled with their entrées. The judges test-tasted the culinary results from both teams, and the guests wrote down their preferences as well – Red or Blue – and based on these results plus overall performance, one team would advance to the semi-finals and two from the losing team would, unfortunately, would go home. The winning team was…RED – composed of Abby, Logan and Adaiah. The young home cook from the Blue Team who would advance was Samuel.

136"Top 4 Compete"December 9, 2014 (2014-12-09)4.93[13]
147"Season Finale"December 16, 2014 (2014-12-16)5.61[14]

  • Season Finale:

Logan Guleff, 11, and Samuel Stromberg, 12, went head to head in their full-course battles on tonight’s 2014 finale of Masterchef Junior and the winner was Logan Guleff. The two boys used modern methods to cook with smoking guns and liquid nitrogen in their dishes. Their friends, family, and fellow contestants cheered them each on as they created in-depth cuisine. In addition, the judges were thoroughly impressed as they watched the two boys in action. While cooking, the judges seemed uneasy about Samuel waiting too long to cook his fish and Logan using a goat cheese mousse in his dessert, but the dishes each looked amazing.

Let’s start with Samuel, who picked an Asian theme for his finale foods. Gordon Ramsay adored Samuel’s first course, though he felt it was slightly overdone. Judge Graham Elliot said he liked the idea of the chicken better than the actual flavor. Samuel’s second course was an Arctic Char, with table-side service for the sauce. The cook on the fish was perfect, which gave Samuel relief. Judge Bastianich had not one bad thing to say about the dish, though Elliot felt the dish was a little heavy. Overall, the judges loved it. For Samuel’s dessert, he made a Kaffir Lime Panna Cotta and Elliot was head over heels for it. Ramsay gushed over the dish as well, along with Bastianich who called the course brilliant.

For Logan’s first course, he served a spot prawns dish with smoked aioli that Ramsay gushed over. Judge Elliot loved the dish as well, but said that the olives over-powered the dish a bit. Judge Joe Bastianich was a big fan as well. Logan’s second course was a salt-crusted Branzino. It was an odd-looking dish and the judges couldn’t wait to see how the fish was cooked under such a large crust. Judge Bastianich said that Logan nailed it with the fish and it tasted amazing. The other judges loved the dish as well, though Ramsay felt he could have chosen a better sauce to pair with the dish. Logan’s dessert was a Meyer Lemon Madeleine with a berry compote and goat cheese mousse. Elliot thought the dish was sophisticated and balanced, while Ramsay thought the dish was brilliant. Judge Bastianich echoed their comments. [15]

  • Appetizer:
  • Entree:
  • Dessert:
  • Judges' Deliberations: Graham, Gordon, and Joe definitely agree that Logan should be crowned MasterChef Junior.
  • Winner Revealed: Logan is announced as the second MasterChef Junior winner, taking home the trophy and the $100,000 prize, making Samuel the second runner-up.

Season 3

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Title : The Class of 2015 Original air date U.S. viewers
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151"Top 19 Compete"January 6, 2015 (2015-01-06)5.33[16]

  • Mystery Box Challenge:

The episode begins with all 19 kids running into the MasterChef kitchen. The judges announce that their aprons are hidden in the pantry, and all the kids go and find them. When they return, the kids open their mystery boxes. They must create a restaurant quality dish using: salmon, mango, corn, broccolini, ginger, soy sauce, coconut milk, puff pastry, and tomatillos, as well as the staple pantry box. When they are done, the top three dishes are Jenna with her coconut rice pudding served with a mango mint compote, Jack with his broiled salmon wrapped in swiss chard and over a coconut fish broth and avocado mascarpone smear, and lastly, despite accidentally cutting herself during cook time, Kayla with her mango turnovers served with a coconut cream and a mango coulee. All three contestants end up winning the challenge and go into the pantry with the judges to find out their advantage.

  • Elimination Challenge:

The theme of the Elimination Challenge was Pasta. The three choices were Ravioli, Lasagne, and Pappardelle. Since Jenna, Jack, and Kayla won the mystery box challenge, not only that they're safe from elimination and don't have to participate in this challenge, they got to choose which pasta the other contestants got to make. Jenna, Jack, and Kayla chose the Pappardelle for the other contestants to cook. The top three dishes were Andrew, with his bacon crème sauce Pappardelle; Ryan Kate, with her tomato basil sauce Pappardelle; and despite having troubles in the end, Jimmy, with his vodka sausage Pappardelle. In the end, AJ, Jianna, Parker, Philly, and Quincy were eliminated.

162"Top 14 Compete"January 13, 2015 (2015-01-13)4.93[17]

  • Individual Challenge:

Since Andrew, Jimmy, and Ryan Kate had the best dishes from the previous challenge, they participated in this challenge, while the other contestants sat out. Andrew, Ryan Kate, and Jimmy had to whip up enough meringue for 12 lemon meringue pies. The first person to finish not only gets an advantage in the next challenge, but the winner gets to throw their pie with the most meringue either on Gordon, Graham, or Joe's face. In the end, Jimmy wins and gets to throw his pie onto Graham's face.

  • Team Challenge:

After Jimmy won the individual challenge, the contestants compete in a team challenge to make sausages and prepare them for the judges. Since Jimmy won the previous challenge, he got to choose the teams. The teams consisted of Jimmy and Kyler, Mia and Jenna, Ayla and Riley, Jack and Nathan, Ryan Kate and Kayla, Andrew and Cory, and Micah and Alexis. Mia and Jenna end up winning the challenge, with their Pork and Chorizo Sausage with Sauerkraut and Roasted Potatoes. The bottom two teams were Andrew/Cory and Micah/Alexis. In the end, the judges send Alexis and Micah home.

173"Top 12 Compete"January 20, 2015 (2015-01-20)5.53[18]

  • Mystery Box Challenge:
  • Elimination Challenge: The judges send Kyler and Mia home.
184"Top 10 Compete"January 27, 2015 (2015-01-27)5.15[19]

  • Individual Challenge: For winning the previous challenge, Cory, Nathan, and Jenna race to find the most ingredients in a pantry full of unlabeled items within 2 minutes. They are each given a list of 20 random items to find. Jenna wins the challenge by correctly finding 10 of the 20 items.
  • Team Challenge: For winning the individual challenge, Jenna gets to pick the teams for the team challenge. She picks Kayla as her own teammate, then pairs Andrew with Riley, Ryan Kate with Nathan, Jack with Cory, and Jimmy with Ayla. The teams now compete in an hour-long tag-team challenge to cook the best sushi platter. Only one teammate can cook at a time; the other can only watch and give advice. Teammates swap roles with each other every ten minutes. Toward the end of the challenge, Andrew and Riley cooperate excellently with each other, while cooperation between Jenna and Kayla breaks down. Ultimately, Jimmy and Ayla win the team challenge; Jenna and Kayla narrowly make it to the next round, while Jack and Cory are eliminated.
195"Top 8 Compete"February 3, 2015 (2015-02-03)4.96[20]

  • The Top 8 Junior Chefs will meet Matilda Ramsay, Daughter of Gordon Ramsay presented the dish Salmon en Croute. The Junior Chefs recreate this dish.
  • Elimination Challenge: The judges send Riley and Ryan Kate home.
206"Top 6 Compete"February 10, 2015 (2015-02-10)4.57[21]

  • Team Challenge: The judges send Kayla and Ayla home.
217"Top 4 Compete"February 17, 2015 (2015-02-17)5.48[22]

  • Mystery Box Challenge:
  • Elimination Challenge: The judges send Jenna and Jimmy home.
228"Season Finale"February 24, 2015 (2015-02-24)4.83[23]

  • Season Finale: In attendance for the finale are the families of Nathan and Andrew, and some of the other contestants from this season. The judges want the finalists to prepare and present a seamless, stylistic 3-course dinner in 90 minutes.
  • Appetizer: Nathan makes roasted fennel and gruyere cheese au gratin topped with french ham and a side of shaved fennel and grapefruit cream salad. Andrew produces a home-made herbed ricotta cheese with roasted beets and pumpernickel bread.
  • Entree: Nathan makes a herb crusted lamb chop with fresh morales and fava beans,shaved asparagus and white asparagus puree. Andrew produces a beef-cheek ravioli with a pan sauce and shaved parmesan cheese.
  • Dessert: Nathan makes an Earl Grey tea and Meyer lemon Tart with candied orange peel, match pretzel and a side of blood orange coulis. Andrew produces a sweet arborio rice risotto with a verjus reduction and figs.
  • Judges' Deliberations: It was a close call, but Graham, Gordon, and Joe ultimately decided that Nathan should be crowned MasterChef Junior, due to Andrew's beef being undercooked.
  • Winner Revealed: Nathan is announced as the third MasterChef Junior winner, taking home the trophy and the $100,000 prize, making Andrew the third runner-up.

References

  1. Bibel, Sara (September 30, 2013). "Friday Final TV Ratings: 'Hawaii Five-0', 'Shark Tank' & 'Undercover Boss' Adjusted up; '20/20' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  2. Kondolojy, Amanda (October 7, 2013). "Friday Final TV Ratings: 'Shark Tank' & 'Dateline' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  3. Bibel, Sara (October 14, 2013). "Friday Final TV Ratings: ' Hawaii Five-0' & 'Dateline' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  4. Kondolojy, Amanda (October 21, 2013). "Friday Final Ratings: 'MasterChef Jr' And 'Shark Tank' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  5. Bibel, Sara (October 28, 2013). "Friday Final TV Ratings: No Adjustment to 'Grimm', 'Dracula or 'Carrie Diaries'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  6. Kondolojy, Amanda (November 4, 2013). "Friday Final Ratings: 'Shark Tank' Adjusted Up, 'Blue Bloods' Adjusted Down + No Adjustment for 'Grimm' or 'Dracula'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  7. Bibel, Sara (November 11, 2013). "Friday Final Ratings: 'Dracula' & 'The Neighbors' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  8. Kondolojy, Amanda (November 5, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'About a Boy' & 'Selfie' Adjusted Down + Final Election Coverage Ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  9. Bibel, Sara (November 12, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice' & 'The Mindy Project' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  10. Kondolojy, Amanda (November 19, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice', 'The Flash' & 'Chicago Fire' Adjusted Up; 'Marry Me' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  11. Bibel, Sara (November 26, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS' & 'Dancing With The Stars' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  12. Kondolojy, Amanda (December 3, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Flash' & 'Chicago Fire' Adjusted Up; 'Marry Me' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  13. Bibel, Sara (December 10, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Victoria's Secret Fashion Show' & 'The Voice' Adjusted Up; 'Supernatural' & 'The Mindy Project' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  14. Kondolojy, Amanda (December 17, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS' & 'The Voice' Adjusted Up, No Adjustment for 'Person of Interest' or 'MasterChef Junior'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  15. http://heavy.com/entertainment/2014/12/logan-guleff-winner-masterchef-junior-2014-jr-who-won-finale-contestants/
  16. Bibel, Sara (January 8, 2015). "Tuesday Final Ratings: No Adjustments to 'Agent Carter', 'Person of Interest' or 'Forever'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  17. Kondolojy, Amanda (January 15, 2015). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Person of Interest' & 'NCIS: New Orleans' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  18. Bibel, Sara (January 22, 2015). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Flash' & 'MasterChef Junior' Adjusted Up; 'Parks and Recreation' & 'Supernatural' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  19. Kondolojy, Amanda (January 28, 2015). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'MasterChef Jr.' & 'Marry Me' Adjusted Up; 'Supernatural' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  20. Bibel, Sara (February 4, 2015). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Supernatural', 'Marry Me', 'The Mindy Project' & 'About A Boy' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  21. Kondolojy, Amanda (February 11, 2015). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS', 'The Flash', 'Parks and Recreation', 'NCIS: New Orleans', 'Person of Interest' & 'About a Boy' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  22. Bibel, Sara (February 19, 2015). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Flash' & 'NCIS' Adjusted Up; 'Supernatural' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  23. Kondolojy, Amanda (February 25, 2015). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice' Adjusted Up; 'NCIS', 'NCIS: New Orleans', 'Fresh Off the Boat', 'New Girl' & 'TV's Hottest Commercials' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
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